Complications
by Sejii
Summary: A pregnancy on the Normandy is bad enough, but a mysterious cross-species conception leaves the crew completely dumbstruck.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I did this story as a fill for the MassEffect Kink Meme about a year ago, knowing very little to almost nothing about writing fics. So this may not exactly be gold, but I'm pretty proud of it for my first ever fic.

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><p>The lights of the galaxy map flickered listlessly as delicate fingers fluxed between the buttons. The woman attached to the fingers released a sigh, breaking her gaze for a moment to fix her eyes on the attendant next to her. "Kelly?"<p>

The younger girl shot up at the sound of the Commander's voice, "Y-yes, Shepard?"

"Did I surprise you?" The woman asked, biting back a grin at the Yeoman being caught off guard.

"Oh, a little. Sorry, Commander, I'm just not used to seeing—" Kelly fell silent, her eyes drifting downwards. Shepard broke into a smile, resting her hands gently on her protruding stomach. "—Yeah, that."

The Commander chuckled brightly. "Don't worry, Kelly. It's not like getting knocked up is contagious," she said before her brow knitted together, "At least, that's what I thought. I'm still confused about how this even happened,"

Chambers' stance faltered—it was weird enough that the Commander was even pregnant, given her caution in every other aspect in her life, but the real shock was a week ago when the DNA testing was done. After hours upon hours of going through almost every DNA profile that could be obtained of the people Shepard had been in contact with, Dr. Solus had come to the conclusion that the father could be no one else but Garrus. There was a stale silence in the air before either one of them spoke again. It was Kelly.

"Um… Do you think that Mordin's conclusion was wrong?"

The Commander paused for a moment longer. "No, he showed me the profiles. I didn't really understand a lot of it, but the comparison images were pretty clear,"

Yeoman Chambers nodded. "I see," She was about to go back to her work, but she halted due to a peak of curiosity. "… Does Garrus know?"

"Not yet, he's been too preoccupied with missions," The woman admitted, "I was actually about to go down and tell him after getting a copy of the profile data from Mordin," She paused, taking in a deep breath. "I think I'll go do that now. That'll be all, Kelly,"

Chambers smiled before turning back to her work. "Yes ma'am,"

The Salarian doctor barely gave a glance as the Commander waddled into the room. He had to admit, it was odd to see the presumed savior of the galaxy in such a manner, but he had figured that something like this had to come up on the Normandy eventually. Tensions were high throughout the Collector mission, and sexual activity was anything but rare for the wide assortment of hormone-driven species that had made up the bulk of the crew. The potential for an actual conception among a Human/Turian couple, however, had never crossed his mind even once.

"Shepard," The scientist greeted her in his normal fashion, "How can I help?"

"Do you have a copy of those DNA profiles for the, um… the father?" The Commander asked tentatively, still trying to shuffle her way across the lab to reach the spot where she normally talked to him.

Mordin looked up from his previous work and nodded to her, "Yes. Surprised that you haven't told Garrus yet. This is for him?"

Shepard let out a nervous laugh as she reached her destination, bracing her hands on his desk to help carry her weight, "Yes, this is so he'll actually believe me," she told him, "And I'm surprised this hasn't been leaked to every crackpot on the extranet."

"As said before, still have ties to Salarian Special Tasks Group. Helped wipe most data of this. Miranda's Cerberus ties also help cover trail," Mordin gave the expectant woman a once over, letting his medical mind speak, "And you are well? No excessive swelling or vomiting? Weight in check?"

The Commander smiled, "No, I'm perfectly healthy by Dr. Chakwas' books. At least, as healthy as someone in my predicament could be."

The professor nodded once again, expertly fingering through buttons on his Omni Tool. "Excellent. Transferred profile data to your Omni Tool. Would be wise to come clean with Garrus. Also—" He inhaled, glancing at the Commander again, "In last two weeks of pregnancy, correct?"

She fidgeted slightly at the question, giving her brain a moment to process that thought, "Yeah, I guess I am," the woman finally said, running a hand up her arm, "Any day now, right?"

"Precisely." For the first time since his encounter with Maelon on Tutchanka, Mordin paused, "… Advise against Epidural. Could poison child due to dextro-amino acid chemical makeup. Dextro alternative could poison you."

Shepard gave the Salarian an odd look. "… Okay. I guess I'll go natural, then."

Mordin smiled. "Glad to hear it. Wouldn't want galaxy destruction due to childbirth complications,"

"Right," The Commander said, laughing a little. She began to waddle towards the door, "I'll talk to you later, Mordin,"

"Of course," The doctor said before returning to his more pressing research.

She didn't want to admit it, but Shepard was still a little apprehensive about going to see Garrus. It had been a few days since they spoke last, and their conversation was a lot less than friendly. Of course, she couldn't blame him for thinking that she had been unfaithful—hell, she even thought that for while even though she knew in the back of her mind that it wasn't true. Plus, he had gone to lead many missions in her stead over the past couple of days and was probably pretty stressed. Her doubt wouldn't help her, however, since her feet had already dragged her into the elevator before her mind realized it. She hesitated slightly before pushing the button on the elevator, taking her to the crew's quarters. "EDI," the woman called out, "Where's Garrus?"

"He is in the Medical Bay right now, treating a minor injury," EDI's soothing voice replied. Shepard nodded, beginning to shuffle out of the elevator as soon as the door was open.

"Garrus, you really do need to be more careful," Dr. Chakwas scolded the Turian sitting across the room from her.

The Turian looked up slightly at the sound of her voice before turning his attention back to the wound on his arm. "I know, Doc." He said, hissing a little as he started to disinfect the wound, "The rocket just looked so pretty, I had to see it up close. With my arm,"

The doctor scoffed, "Just feel lucky you kept most of your arm this time. Next time-" she was cut off by the sound of the med bay's door opening. "Ah, Commander. Is there something wrong?" Garrus shot up at the realization of who it was, his body stiffening.

Shepard smiled at the medic, "No, nothing's wrong," She rubbed the back of her head, "I, uh… I actually came here to talk to Garrus."

The Turian's mandibles flared out in a grin. "Come to tell me how to dodge rockets? The doctor here's already talked to me about it,"

"Oh, is that what happened?" The Commander gazed at his arm, "Well, at least it doesn't look that bad. But that's not why I'm here,"

"I'll just wait outside, Commander," Dr. Chakwas chimed in, standing up, "Take as much time as you need," With that, the medic walked out the door, leaving the two alone.

Silence hung in the air for a while, Garrus cleaning his wound with his same tense stance. Eventually, he stood to face the woman. "Look, I know the last time we spoke, I said some… things, and I'm sorry I said all that. No matter what, I still love you. And this is part of you, so I will love it, too," he closed the distance between the two, placing his talons gently on her stomach. "And I don't care whose this really is—it could be Harbinger's for all I care… I'll help raise the child as if it was my own,"

Shepard lowered her head to touch his—a custom she had gotten used to easily, smiling as he spoke. "That's good to know, Garrus," She whispered to him, "Well, that's actually why I'm here."

Garrus stiffened again, backing up a little to give the Commander some space. "So you, uh… actually know who the father is?" The woman stayed silent, opting to open up her omni tool. Garrus watched her attentively as she pulled up an image from the orange device. "Uh, what is this?"

"This," The Commander started, pointing at a side of the image that showed an array of connected lines and different-colored dots, "Is the DNA profile of the baby," She pointed at the other side, showing another series of lines and dots that were almost exactly alike, "This is your DNA profile… Garrus, you're the father,"

The Turian's eyes widened, but played it off with a dark chuckle, "Oh really? Then I guess this kid's going to start crapping rainbows as soon as it comes out, right?"

Shepard glared at him, "I'm being serious! Go talk to Mordin if you doubt me that much, he'll tell you the same thing."

After that outburst, he stayed silent and unmoving for a while as if he was frozen in time. Finally, he spoke, "So… You're serious? This baby is actually… Mine?"

The woman nodded, "Yes, I'm serious. I'm still not sure how, but these are the facts," Garrus looked down, returning to silence. Shepard took his head in her hands to make him turn back to her. "Garrus, it's alright. You'll be an excellent father, I know it,"

He gazed at Shepard, his mandibles flaring again. "I-I hope so. Before, I think it was some kind of pride thing, just raising someone's kid because they touched my girl… But now, it's kind of unsettling. And damn, now it's my fault that this happened to you," Garrus paused, taking her hands in his. "I'm sorry again, I didn't know…"

"You couldn't have known, Garrus. I don't blame you," Shepard smiled at him, pulling up his hands and kissing them lightly, "And don't worry, you'll be a wonderful father,"

He did his best to match her smile, but it failed, "I hope so, but I'm not so sure,"


	2. Chapter 2

After the confrontation with Garrus a week before, things had settled down immensely on the Normandy- people being sent out on missions to help out those who needed them, trying to break up problem groups and the like. But everyone's attention was still on the Commander.

Only a week was left in her pregnancy and no one had a clue on how her child was even conceived, and people were still dishing out their theories. Some were about how the Prothean Beacon changed her significantly enough to rewrite her genetic code, but most fingers were pointed at Cerberus and the Lazarus Project for turning the first human Spectre into a multi-species babymaking machine.

None of these theories seemed to bother Shepard, and she encouraged the crew's curiosity. She was just as stumped as they were.

Still, a lot of them took the Commander's health seriously during this week. She wasn't one to complain, but the weight of the baby had taken a toll on her and she could barely walk. Luckily, Joker had offered her an old wheelchair he kept around for 'Emergencies', and she was happy to accept. She was wheeling her way to the elevator to go speak with the baby's father when Yeoman Chambers stopped her.

"Commander, Mordin would like to speak with you in the Tech Lab," she told the woman, almost giddy after reading the information that the professor gave her.

"Okay, Kelly," She said automatically.

Heaving a sigh of defeat, Shepard made her way to the lab. When the door opened, Mordin was almost immediately in front of her, obviously excited about something.

"Shepard, good to see you. Have good news," he helped her roll further into the lab, wearing a grin that was usually accompanied with him finding some kind of information. "On a hunch, asked Miranda for utilities used in Lazarus. Specifically, tools used to reactivate reproductive system. Not normal for most revitalizing processes, but reproductive system is essential for production of Estrogen. So assumed they did that anyway,"

The woman tilted her head slightly. "What did you find?"

The Salarian took a deep breath, continuing. "System was completely destroyed during death. Recreated most reproductive organs by cloning, but system didn't function as they hoped," He crossed the lab, examining a document left open on his terminal as he passed it. "Contacted a company hired by Krogan to research and cure Genophage- Binary Helix. Had prototype genetic mod that allowed female Krogan to reproduce productively with other species. Krogan denied mod, wanted to keep Krogan breeding on Tutchanka. Cerberus bought patent for gene mod, adapted it to human genetic code, and used in Lazarus,"

"So you're saying I can... 'reproduce productively' with other species?"

"Exactly. Oversight on Cerberus' part, probably forgot about rewriting genetic code on conception during production process," He looked at the Commander, inhaling deeply.

"To keep gene mod possible, must take large part of genetic properties from father. Made DNA profiles simpler, but few properties are taken from mother. Child will be significantly smaller than other Turians, and levo-amino acid based. Previous assumption about chemicals harming child or mother... is incorrect," his face faltered for a moment, then turned more serious.

"Still advise against it. Chemicals are helpful, but dangerous."

The Commander smiled, shaking her head, "I'll be fine without them, Mordin. You don't have to worry," She then let out a small laugh, "If I can handle dying, I can handle having a kid,"

The professor nodded. "Yes, endurance for pain not in question. But..." he stopped, looking back at the terminal but remaining quiet.

Her expression changed dramatically at that point, to something almost unreadable. "Is there something wrong?"

"No. Ah, yes actually." He typed a few words into the orange device, then looked back at the woman. "Dr. Chakwas and I... Arguing about delivery. She suggested Caesarian Section- worried that vaginal delivery could cause substantial bleeding. Disagree. Caesarian Section leaves human stomach vulnerable, easy target for most enemies. Unlikely you'd survive many abdomen wounds after delivery. She thinks you'd die in med bay, I think you'd die in field easier,"

The Commander stayed quiet, thinking hard about the decision. After a long time in silence, she spoke again. "I think I want to talk to Garrus about this first, I'll get back to you."

"Of course," Mordin replied, going over to help Shepard's wheelchair turn towards the door. "Here if you need me,"

And with that, she began wheeling her way back to the elevator, a lot more to say to Garrus than she had originally planned.

It was kind of strange, really. This was a woman who apparently 'made a career out of doing the impossible'. This was the woman who went to Ilos, defeated Saren, defeated a Reaper, led a team through the Omega 4 Relay and got everyone out alive, and even destroyed the Collector base! But, she couldn't get up a couple of stairs in a wheelchair.  
>Shepard glared at the flight of stairs for a good long while with an intensity that could make an entire Reaper fleet turn tail and run, but figured there was no way to get up them without harming herself or the baby. Instead, she inhaled as much oxygen as she could and shouted down the hallway leading up to the Main Battery, "GARRUS, GET DOWN HERE!" The sheer volume that phrase contained made almost everyone in the Quarters cringe.<p>

Garrus rushed out of that room as if the entire ship was going down in flames, "Shepard, what's going on?" he yelled back, brandishing a Hand Cannon that he kept at his side for just an occasion. However, he realized that no one was in danger and that the Commander was right at the end of the hallway, laughing.

"There's no danger, Garrus," She choked out through her laughter, "You can put away the gun,"

If Turians could blush, he would be a vibrant blue, "R-right, sorry." He fumbled to put the Hand Cannon away, "So, Shepard... need me for something?"

The woman turned her wheelchair around. "Yeah, follow me. We need to talk,"

"Oh," Garrus replied, his heart sinking, "That sounds bad," He followed her anyway. The two took the elevator to the Commander's cabin.

When they reached the destination, Shepard seemed to relax. "I'm sorry, there's just a whole lot of stress now that it's getting so close to... y'know. The big day."

The Turian formed to best smile he could. "Don't worry about it too much. Whenever it happens, I know you'll be ready,"

"Thanks," was the almost solemn reply. The woman stayed still for a minute, then rested her hands in her head. "Our two doctors are fighting over how I should have the baby. To be honest, both of them sound bad,"

Garrus tilted his head slightly, a curious expression on his face. "How so?"

"They're saying that if I deliver the baby normally, I could bleed to death. And if I get a C-Secti-"

The Turian interrupted her, "No way! C-Sec is NOT going to be a part of this!" The Commander paused, looking up at him and biting back a hearty laugh.

"N-no... Wrong C-Sec, Garrus. A Caesarian Section, it's where they open the mother's abdomen and uterus to get the baby out. It's a riskier procedure, but I have no doubt Dr. Chakwas and Mordin can do it." She paused again. "But it'll weaken my stomach to the point where I can't survive many shots there."

Garrus' expression hardened a bit. "I see. Neither of those sound very good," He stayed quiet for a long time before kneeling in front the woman to meet her at eye-level. "Whatever you decide, Shepard," He said as gently as he could, "I'm with you. I will always be here for you,"

The resulting smile from the Commander was probably the biggest and brightest the Turian had ever seen from her. "Thank you, Garrus," she breathed out, embracing him fully. "I think I'm going to try it normally,"


	3. Chapter 3

Well, they knew it would happen soon enough, but they hadn't planned on it hitting them when they least expected it.  
>They were on Illium to see Liara when Shepard's water broke.<br>The entire squad buckled down after that, trying their best to get her back to the Normandy as quick as possible. The Commander didn't say a word, however, doing her best to ignore the pain. When she finally reached the med bay, Dr. Chakwas and Mordin were waiting for her in full garb. With the help of Garrus and Samara, they got Shepard on the bed in order to do the vaginal exam. "Well, Commander, looks like you're coming along fine right now. You're three centimeters dilated and going."Dr. Chakwas told the woman, "How are you feeling? Are the contractions giving you any trouble?"

"Oh, I'm fine," The Commander replied, malice in her voice. "I know this is gonna be like puking a football out the other end, but I'll be fine with that,"

"Commander, let me remind you that this was your decision-" The doctor told her before Mordin interrupted.

"-Best possible decision. Anything else causes harm to mother and child. Believe this was discussed, doctor,"

"Yes, but is having her go through all of this without help-"

"-Not without help. That's why we're here. Garrus, too. Has lots of help that won't kill her,"

Dr. Chakwas decided to shut up at that point. Shepard groaned, feeling a rather large contraction flow through her. Garrus grabbed her hand.  
>"Shepard, are you alright?" he asked, genuine worry in his voice.<p>

The woman smiled, squeezing his hand. "Don't worry, Garrus. I got this,"

The professor inspected the woman, inhaling deeply when he came back up. "Five centimeters dilated. Going fast,"

"Y-yeah, I hope so," The Commander said, nearly crushing Garrus' hand as another powerful contraction hit her, "I don't really want to be in here all day."

"Patients rarely in labor for more than three hours," he turned away, making sure the supplies were in check, "Hate waiting for full dilation, always takes too long,"

"Doctor Solus," Chakwas warned flatly, "I doubt anyone complaining about it will make it go any faster,"

The woman let out a laugh at the two, "Are you guys going to be fighting through my whole delivery?"

"No. Simply passes time," Mordin replied, checking over their supplies again. Chakwas took her turn in inspecting the Commander.

"Hm... Six centimeters now. Looks like you're slowing down a bit. Are your contractions slowing down?"

"Yeah, a little bit," She replied, "Hey Garrus, you okay? I don't think they want to deal with a fainted Turian along with the baby,"

Garrus laughed openly at that, "Don't worry about me, Shepard. I think I can handle it. How are you holding up?"

"A little better. The contractions aren't bothering me as much as they were earlier, but I have a feeling it's going to get a whole lot worse,"

"Eight centimeters. Very good," She heard Mordin say, but she ignored it to keep her attention on the Turian beside her.

"You know, despite the galaxy of pain I'm about to have to endure, I'm glad this happened," She released his hand to pat his scarred cheek, "I don't think I've ever seen you this happy, Garrus,"

He flashed his mandibles into a smile at that last phrase. "Heh. Thanks, Shepard. I'm just glad I could be here for you,"

"Alright, boys and girls," Chakwas announced loud enough to grab the attention of the two soon-to-be parents, "You're now ten centimeters, which means that you are about to deliver this baby."

"Well, shit," Was the only thing the Commander said before her loins erupted with pain. She screamed, grabbing Garrus' hand again.

Chakwas immediately kneeled down, spreading the Commander's vaginal lips. "Alright, here comes the baby!" She shouted.

Shepard screamed again as she pushed the baby further out. Dr. Chakwas observed as the baby's head pushed past the walls of the mother.  
>"Come on Commander, keep on pushing!"<p>

Garrus looked panicked. Between the howls of pain and the apparent haze of fear, he began to rethink his decision on letting her do this naturally. "C'mon, Shepard, you can do this!"

The baby was pushed out further, and the two doctors quickly grabbed hold of the head, pulling on the child to get it out quickly. As soon as the mouth had passed the vaginal walls, Mordin stuffed a suction bulb into the child's mouth, sucking out the fluid from the child's air passage. After that, the child was easily pulled out of Shepard with the most disgusting display of afterbirth fluid and blood that Garrus had ever seen.

After a small bit of time passed, and the baby was cleaned of most of the afterbirth fluid, Chakwas exclaimed happily, "It's a girl, Commander. Congratulations!"

The mother smiled weakly. "Awesome. Now that wasn't so bad, was it Garrus?"

The Turian looked on in complete shock as the two doctors handled the baby expertly. The realization of him being a father took him by surprise as he stood silent in awe.  
>"Garrus?"<p>

"Oh! Sorry. Th-this is... This is amazing." He smiled as best he could as one of the doctors put a clamp on the umbilical cord.

"Garrus, do the honors?" Mordin said to him, placing a pair of scissors in his free hand. He stared at them for a moment before freeing his other hand from Shepard and walking towards his little girl.

"Of course." He said, still smiling as he cut the cord where they told him to and watched as they took the baby to get cleaned further. He turned back to Shepard, embracing the woman fully. "Oh man, Shepard, that was amazing,"

"We're not done yet," The mother mused, still grinning like an idiot. "We still have to name her,"

"Oh, r-right," He looked back to his lover, releasing her from the hug but taking her hand in his, "Any ideas? Because I really don't know,"

Shepard thought for a moment, staying quiet. "Hm... How about Vespa?" she could hear him scoff.

"Why that? It sounds weird,"

"Well, that was my sister's name. Before Mindoir, at least,"

Now it was the Turian's turn to shut up. He stayed silent until Chakwas handed the baby over to the Commander. "Alright, Vespa it is," He smiled again, lowering his head towards the little girl in the head-bump custom he had used on her mother so many times. "Sounds fine to me,"  
>He then turned back to the woman, doing the head-bump to her. "You did good, Shepard... I love you."<p> 


End file.
